This past week, Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) conducted their first ever fall safety “Stand-Down.” During this time, employers in the construction industry were encouraged to find time in their days to stop work, spending this time instead to educate and train workers in workplace fall safety, including inspecting equipment, developing rescue plans, assessing and eliminating fall hazards, and more.

KENT, WASHINGTON — Guardian Fall Protection, a leading provider of fall protection equipment, announced today that they have acquired Trojan Tools, the most reputable manufacturer of power tool accessories in the United States. The purpose behind this acquisition is to promote the product line expansion for Guardian's subsidiary company, Qualcraft Industries.

Using roof brackets can make roofing work significantly more efficient, and can significantly reduce the risk of injury. Roof bracket systems are easy to install, use, and remove, all with minimum penetration into the roof and without damaging shingles. Roof bracket systems offered by Qualcraft help make roofing work safer by providing flat, level surfaces on which to walk and store equipment, and can be adjusted to fit a variety of roof pitches.

The Self-Retracting Lifeline (SRL) is one of the most common, and one of the most useful, pieces of fall protection equipment used in the construction industry today. Depending on the model, these versatile units can be either mounted on a full-body harness or to an anchorage connector, thereby allowing them to be either mobile or stationary, and many can also be used in combination with horizontal lifelines.

It’s amazing what words can do. Words are what allow us to have society and culture, to make discourse, and to analyze subtleties. They give meaning to what would otherwise be a dramatically different, and much more silent, world.

As we all know, complying with the standards set by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is a central focus of the work we do in the fall safety industry. OSHA, as well as other regulating bodies, shape and set the requirements that all the equipment we make and sell must meet. And OSHA’s influence doesn’t stop after our products leave the warehouse.

We at Guardian have a wide range of knowledge and talents. But, I wager I can name a field few of us are expert in—biology. The basic biological idea of ‘carrying capacity,’ though, is one that even a non-science-oriented brain like mine can understand: it is the largest amount of a given species that can be supported by their environment.

Let me first start by saying that I am not a doctor, nor have I ever played one on TV. However, that does not mean that I cannot have an understanding of the possibility and severity of orthostatic intolerance. Some other more associated, commonplace terms are ‘harness induced pathology’ or ‘suspension trauma’.

Snakes and Ladders was invented in India over 100 years ago and, eventually, made its way to the United States in the early 1900’s. The board game giant, Milton Bradley, changed the name to Chutes and Ladders in the spring of 1943; and the game remains popular with kids today. The object of the game is to successfully guide your game piece from the bottom square to the top square, being both aided by ladders and hindered by chutes.

OSHA recently released the 2011 top cited safety hazards in the construction industry, and residential fall protection was number one. In this last year, OSHA’s revised residential standards have caused quite a stir in the home building and roofing market, having many contractors scrambling to comply.